Hi all,

I think I probably know the answer to this one, but I thought I'd double check with you all!

My PC is a lenovo thinkcentre M58, and its using the intel HD 4500 integrated graphics chip. I have sitting spare beside me an ATI X1900XT 512MB PCIe card. Is it worth plugging that into the lenovo instead of using the integrated graphics?

I'm running windows XP for info.

I know the conventional wisdom always used to be that a standalone card would always outperform integrated, but in this case, the standalone is relatively old compared to the integrated option so I just wanted to see what people thought!

thanks in advance!

Paul

What are you using the machine for?

If you are just using it for office type applications, browsing, e-mail and video, then the integrated is more than adequate and will save you money in power consumption.

If you are doing something which is 3D intensive (gaming etc.), then look at a discrete card.

I don't know the relative performance of the 4500 IC and hte X1900XT, so I can't comment, but I would assume the 1900 is still superior?

X1900 will be far superior to any Intel integrated graphics chip, but Big D is right about the power consumption. It's only worth using if you're using 3D applications.

It is my "work" PC so its mainly office apps and occaisional maths simulations, nothing hugely 3D! I did wonder though whether using the discrete card would help things along by freeing up RAM for the main system (instead of the graphics stealing it)... but I guess its a bit overkill!

I'd be interested to know what the performance difference is, but I don't really have the time to sit and benchmark it myself! I'm supposed to be working after all!

Cheers for the insight

Paul
(sitll on integrated)

It depends on your OS and memory.

If you have 4GB and 32-bit OS, you won't lose out. If you have 2GB or less and run lots of apps in parallel, it might give a bit of a boost, although adding another 1-2GB would be better.

Same would, theoretically, apply to 64-bit. If you have less than 4GB, you might see a boost with the discrete card, but over 4GB, you shouldn't see a difference. (I haven'T tested that, so I can't commnet directly).

When looking for my next machine, I'd seriously consider onboard graphics, as long as it has DVI output.

Ok, that leads on nicely to my next question!

VGA vs DVI... the output of the integrated graphics is a choice of VGA or HDCP (I think, its one of the HD formats anyway!). My monitor accepts either VGA or DVI (its a samsung syncmaster 2243 for info). The computer did arrive with an adapter to go from the HDCP to DVI...

Should I run with the VGA or the HD-->DVI option?

Thanks!

Paul

Digital outputs like DVI and HDMI will give a better picture every time. Noticeable in a big way on 17" monitors and above (1280x1024).

HDCP is the end-to-end encryption technique that the film studios imposed upon the computer and home entertainment industries. It can be used over either DVI or HDMI.

I would assume you have HDMI? I would get a converter/ HDMI->DVI cable, if that is the case.

The analogue output from integrated chipsets is generally very noisy, as monkey says.

Analogue gets very noisy even on discrete cards. My GTX280 ghosts over VGA but is as crisp as a very crisp thing over DVI

I would be more interested in the PSU fitted to your lenovo? as the 1950XT could put another 80W + strain on it.

Thanks for all the replies, I suspect I did mean HDMI, but I confess to not having any other HD kit so am not familiar with the terms yet!

I've now plugged in via the HDMI (and DVI adapter), I think it looks better, but I'm not sure by how much!

I've also opted to stick with the integrated graphics for the time being at least - the extra power consumption being something I want to limit as I tend to leave this machine on over night. Its not like I'm playing games, and with 4GB RAM sitting in the machine I shouldnt (as BigD pointed out) notice the drain from the GPU.

Thanks again all!

Paul

With a 32bit OS and 4GB of RAM, a discrete graphics card can actually reduce the amount of available memory. It's not as simple as "liberating" the memory used by the on-board graphics, because of the memory-mapped IO eating into the 4GB address space.

If you had 2 or 3 GB, or a 64bit OS then it would be simple, but with 4 it's not.